Remarks to the Montana Board Regent on the
work of the Access Committee, one of the three committees working on behalf of
Shared Leadership, by Diane Fladmo, member, Access to Education Committee,
Shared Leadership and vice chair of the Montana Board of Public Education.†† Highlighted items were presented;
non-highlighted items provide additional information on the topic but were not
presented orally at the November 18, 20004 meeting due to time limitations.)

The initial meeting of the Access to Education Committee
was held November 3, capably chaired by Don Peoples, C.E.O. of MSE, and was
well attended by committee members representing the state geographically with
diverse areas of experience, expertise and interests.† We also enjoyed the support of an august advisory committee, with
K-12 and higher education representatives who were armed with a wealth of
information about the issue of access.

At the meeting, we had the privilege of a presentation by Dr. David
Longanecker, the executive director (WICHE).†
Prior to the meeting, committee members received a packet of information
prepared by OCHE staff:† The following
were key points I gained from the information presented by Dr. Longanecker and
the informational packet:

1.† Education attainment:† While Montana has enjoyed a reasonable high school
average completion rate, it has slipped in the past decade and is particularly
low for Montanaís American Indians.

Newer data from the Montana Office
of Public Instruction on the completion rate for Montanaís students show that
American Indian studentsí rate remains approximately twenty points below the
state average.

Montanaís college matriculation
rate, that is high school freshmen enrollment in any US college within four
year is 42% compared to the top states rate of 52%.

Montanaís educational attainment
levels compared to other states are slipping, including high school graduation
and bachelorís degrees.† Our ranking for
completion of bachelorís degrees slipped from 23rd to 30th
between 1989 and 2000.† Montana clearly
lags in developing and retaining college-trained workers.

Montanaís percentage of first
time, full-time freshman completing a BA within 6 years is 42%, compared to 64%
for highest performing states.

2.† Montana is suffering a ďbrain drainĒ with an influx of less-educated individuals and a
corresponding net loss of our baccalaureate and advanced degree holders.†

3. Higher education retention:†
Montanans are known for a great work ethic. National reports give
Montana consistently high marks for its academic preparation of its students at
the secondary level, but our retention of students in higher educations not
only lags well behind top states but also is well below the national average.† For example, the percentage of 1st year community college returning
the 2nd year is 44%, compared to 61% for top states.† Rates for some of our neighboring states
are:† South Dakota - 57%, Wyoming Ė
55%.† The U.S. average is 54.8%).

The percentage of freshmen
attending Montana four-year colleges returning for second year is 67%, compared
to 84% for highest performing states. (Other states, Wyoming 78%, North Dakota
- 71.5%, South Dakota 69.7%, Nebraska, 76.2%, Wisconsin 80.9% US average
73.6%,)

Quality of Education System:† While
Montana generally enjoys high scores for its secondary preparation,recent data shows troubling
trends.† According to Education Trust,
Inc., 1 in 4 secondary classrooms are taught by teachers lacking either a major
or minor in subject area. (High poverty schools and high minority schools are
far more likely to be taught by teachers out of their field of expertise.)

Economic Issues and State Support
of Higher Education:Research shows that individuals, families,
households, cities, and states with the most formal education have prospered during
the last 30 years.† Cities and states
with the fewest college educated adults have seen per capita income growth
rates fall below the national averages. Market forces based on educational
attainment have been, and continue to aggressively reallocate income and living
standards for people, their families, cities and states.

In 1973, Montana invested $11.54 per $1000 of personal income in higher
education.† By 2003, Montanaís
investment effort had dropped to $6.74 per $1000 of personal income.† This is a reduction of 41% during the era
where higher education has become the dominant factor in the growth in personal
incomes and living standards.

Montanaís per capita personal
income has suffered during the Human Capital Economy:

In 1973 per capital income was 96%
of average for US, ranking 29th.†
By 2001, Montana per capita personal income fallen to 79% of national
average, ranking 47th.†

Montana State appropriations make
up 33.1% of the funding for baccalaureate degrees with the average for the
WICHE states being 42.9%

Affordability and Financial
Assistance:† The information presented seems to clearly indicate that rising tuition
and low average incomes have put higher education out of reach for many
Montanans.†

This creates evidence for increased need-based aid.† According to 2002 data, the amount Montana
provided to low-income students for every $1 of Pell grants $.07, while the top
states provided $.94 for every $1 of Pell grant funds received.†

The share of income that poorest families need to pay for tuition at
lowest-priced colleges in Montana is 22% compared with the tops states rate of
8%.

According to WICHE, Montana also
lags significantly behind in the need-based financial assistance with Montana
providing an average of $62 in need-based aid per student, with the WICHE
average being $238, and the U.S. average being $316

Over the past decade, Montananís share of income needed to pay for
college expenses after financial aid has increase from 23 to 28% at community
colleges and 24% to 31% at public 4 year institutions.

This may account for the fact that a very small percentage of
working-age adults are enrolled part-time in college-level education or
training.† According to a report issued
by the National Center Public Policy and Higher Education, Montana is the
lowest performing state in the country on this measure and it has consistently
performed very poorly in this area over the past decade.

This becomes even more disconcerting when looking at Global statistics
which indicate that world leaders in high education attainment are:† Canada, Finland, Ireland, Japan, and
Korea.† The U.S. falls in the Second
tier with Australia, Belgium, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and UK.

With that summary of the research
and background information received by the committee, Iíll move on the discuss
agenda of our first committee meeting.

The first part of the committee
agenda gave an opportunity for committee members to raise issues of concern in
the area of access.† The following is an
unofficial summary of concerns raised by committee members:

1.Preparation (social, financial, academic) is often
inadequate to meet the needs of Montana students contributing to a high
attrition rate.

2.To improve access, we much increase commitment to take
better advantage of our two-year and technical schools, including more and
better career planning.

3.Student debt load is restrictive and prohibitive.

4.Transfer of credit must be improved.† A core class at one school should meet the
requirements oat another.

5.We must improve partnerships, including P-20 education, and
with the private sector.

6.We must market the benefits of an education to our students
and citizens.

7.This is a correlation between lack of educational attainment
and crime, which provides further motivation for improvement.

†

8.We must empower our youth early with the idea that higher
education opportunities are attainable.

9.Counselors in k-12 play a crucial role but they are too few
to meet the needs of our students and the existing counselors face other
priorities related to their job assignments.

10.There is not enough need-based aid.

Our committee members were resolute in their belief that our efforts
must result in action that will improve education access.

During the afternoon sessions, the campus advisory committee shared
data and information about access and affordability.† While some of the information was campus specific, much pertained
to the system as a whole, providing a sound foundation for further discussions
on the actions that will need to be taken to improve access.† What follows is a summary of the comments by
members of the advisory committee:

1.† The infrastructure needs to
be improved to prepare youth for postsecondary education.

We donít have the resources and infrastructure
to prepare our youth for a college education. As a system, we do a pretty
good job of preparing those students who have identified post-secondary
education as a goal.† These
students tend to come from middle to upper income families.† Generally speaking, these students and
their families support post-secondary education as part of their core
values.† Typically, paying for
college is not an issue, nor is academic preparation. We tend to fail with
those students from lower income families.† These students oftentimes donít have the support networks in
place to prepare for colleges.†
Because of unique geographic characteristics in Montana, we have
multiple, low-income areas spread out across the state.† Most of these areas donít have an
institute of post-secondary education nearby, nor are there population
centers in the area.† These
characteristics tend to translate into features that donít prepare our
youth for college: low income families donít tend to save for college, low
income areas donít have community resources to support potential students,
a college education is not a key family value and support is minimal,
logistic and cultural barriers tend to pop up, and the lack of
high-paying, local jobs lessens the perceived value of a college
education.†

We arenít
taking full advantage of our two-year and community colleges.† Statistics show that 84% of Montana
jobs require a 2-year degree or less.†
Yet only 17% of post-secondary students attend a 2-year or
community college.† If we
accept this percentage as true, Montana will continue to experience Ďbrain
drainí.† If there are not jobs
requiring a 4-year or advanced degree, Montanans will leave the state to
find them.† This would explain the
influx of less-educated people into the state, with a corresponding net
loss of our baccalaureate and advanced degree holders.† To take better advantage of our 2-year
programs, a core shifting of our thought process must occur.† That shift would be towards career counseling
and could, potentially, have a huge impact on our 4-year schools.†

The high
debt-load of our students keeps many Montanans from accessing a
post-secondary education.† The
average Montana baccalaureate graduate across the entire MUS leaves school
with an average debt load of $18,562.†
The average for advanced degrees is $31,290 (left school in 2003).† The combined average is just over
$20,000.† At 5% over 10 years,
thatís a monthly payment of $212.†
With Montana wages being at or near the bottom compared to the rest
of the United States, this is a huge issue for Montana borrowers.† All indications are that borrower
indebtedness will get worse Ė not better.

The
transfer of credit is not set up in a way that encourages students to
enroll and persist at our schools.†
Transfer of credit is a complex issue.
Undergraduate students who have completed, with a cumulative grade-point
average of 2.0 (C) on a four-point scale, an approved general education
program of between 30 and 45 lower division credit hours at one of the
institutions noted above and who transfer to another of those institutions
will be deemed to have met the lower division general education
requirements of the campus to which the students have transferred.† There are a variety of complexities
that complicate the transfer issue, however.† Changes to a studentís major, remedial or non-college level
courses, and credit that is accepted, but not towards the fulfillment of a
general education core, degree, or graduation requirement, can all result
in confusion and complicate the transfer process.†

The lack
of partnerships creates opportunities for students to fall through the
cracks.† While not a weakness,
partnerships can always be better utilized.† For example, does the MUS work closely
with high school counselors in career counseling?† Do we take full advantage of interns
and mentors within the private sector?†
Is visiting a college campus part of each school districtís basic
requirements?† Do public education
budget levels allow for enough counselors?†

Our
systems are not always user-friendly.† Too often, we focus on whatís best for ourselves.† But are we really thinking about our
students?† Are we offering classes
at times students can attend?† Do we
have daycare for our students with children?† Is there sufficient parking?† Do we make the transfer process too difficult?† Do we create a campus environment that
welcomes students from all ethnical backgrounds?† Do we provide support for first-generation students or
students with unique issues or concerns?†
Do we have classrooms that are conducive to learning and obtaining
success?† How are our facilities?
Where are our facilities and are there options for place-bound students?

We donít
successfully tout the benefits of an education.† How are we selling our investment in
higher education?† We tend to think
of the cost of an education as an expense, not an investment.† What can we do to change this
perception?† Are there themes or
messages we can be delivering?† An
investment in education benefits everyone Ė the student, the family, the
state, even the school itself.† How
do we market education and sell the benefits of an education?

Itís hard
to see all the benefits of an education. Even at an anecdotal level, we
know that an educated person is more likely to have a job, not to mention
a well-paying job.† We sometimes
forget that a person without an education is more likely to wind up in the
penal system.† This costs the state
money and, generally speaking, worsens statistics in virtually every
negative reporting category.†

Many
students and families donít believe an education is within their reach.
Some students know they will attend college from a very early age.† Others have life-challenges that
prevent them from understanding that college is a real possibility.† Few individuals will undertake an endeavor if they
donít believe a positive outcome is likely.† We must reach those students and families with the right
message.† We must empower them to
believe in a post-secondary education. With that message that it is
attainable.

Reaching
young students is difficult and expensive.† We know that early awareness and
outreach programs can make the difference for students unfamiliar with
college.† Even for those who want
to attend, early awareness will better prepare them Ė academically,
financially, and emotionally.† We
need to support programs that reach out to our youth and their families at
an early age.

At the
junior and high school level, we donít have enough people helping our
youngsters with college and career planning. Especially for a
first-generation college student, high school counselors play a huge role
in the decision making process.†
Yet our high schools frequently have but one counselor for 300-400
students.† Some schools
donít even have a counselor.† And
counselors must often prioritize their days between crisis management and
career/college counseling.† We must
find a way to provide support to high schools† - whether that support is by funding for additional
counselors, utilizing community volunteers or mentors, or special projects
or system that help guide and steer our students to college.

The state
of Montana very limited need-based aid.†
Study after study proves that paying for college remains the
single, largest barrier to obtaining an education.† Studies also show that the cost of an
education is not a barrier for the highest income quartile.† There is no unmet need for students
coming from families in the highest income quartile (unmet need is defined
as the total cost of attendance minus all forms of aid, including
loans).† Low-income students,
however, have unmet need.† At MSU
Bozeman, 43% of students applying for financial aid have unmet need.† According to a report of unmet need in
a 1999 article in the Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY, all families
with income of less than $50,000 have at least some unmet need.† Today, some 5 years later, itís safe to
say the picture has gotten worse, not better.† The state needs to improve its need-based aid.†††††††††

This committee session was productive!

Some of you may know that I share the privilege of co-chairing the P-20
committee with Regent Lynn Hamilton.†
The P-20 initiative, chartered by the State Board of Education, aims to
identify means by which citizens of the state are enabled to attain the skills
and knowledge they need to contribute successfully to Montanaís workforce and
society by strengthening the links in educational system from preschool through
graduate school. The fact that there is strong alignment between these
undertakings should be no surprise.

All three initiatives identified by the Regents for early
implementation align strongly with the P-20 Committee mission,
including:

Workforce
Training and Education

Bring business, industry,
government, and two-year colleges together to develop a comprehensive strategic
plan for the stateís two-year college system including specific recommendations
for changes in operations, resources, and curricula to meet the stateís future
needs.† The plan will consider options
for campus specialization, standardizing programs in high-demand occupational
areas, creating career pathways systems for occupational training, and better
integration into the stateís myriad workforce programs.

Promote and Enhance Access to Postsecondary
Education

Implement programs which promote
the value of and remove barriers to postsecondary education for Montanaís
citizens.

Distance and Online Learning

Create a Montana University
On-line System to centralize and coordinate distance learning throughout the
university system.

Improvement of Workforce
Education, smoothing institutional and social barriers to postsecondary
education, and overcoming the problems of distance and mobility through
improved online learning opportunities all contribute to the P-20 goals.

P-20 is a Partner in Shared Leadership in that its focused efforts to
create a supportive environment for a readiness for and availability of
postsecondary opportunities for all contribute directly to the eventual success
of our economy, our society, and the strength and health of our institutions
and individual citizens.

The alignment between the Shared Leadership Program and the P-20
Initiative is natural and mutually supportive working in partnership to achieve
the same goals.

I believe that through Shared Leadership Initiatives, including those
of the Access

to Education Committee, will be strengthened through the structures and
opportunities for collaboration P-20.†
If access is to be improved, efforts must begin for our students early
in their education and working together, we can bring these our plans to
improve Montanaís educational attainment and economy to fruition.

Although nothing has been finalized or adopted by our committee, there
are areas that will be discussed at our upcoming meeting including, but likely
not limited to:

1.The improvement of state need-based aid programs
that would make a significant and meaningful difference for low-income
Montanans and their respective participation and completion rates in
post-secondary education.† Presently, the Stateís only true need-based
aid program is the Montana Higher Education Grant.† In academic year 2003, the State gave out less than one million
dollars in need-based aid (much of that was from federal matching
dollars).† While programs such as the
Montana Tuition Assistance Program and Work Study help many Montanans, they are
not need based.† Compared to the rest of
the United States, Montana delivers an average of only $62 of need-based aid
per student Ė whereas the national average is $316.† Need-based aid has been proven to increase enrollment and improve
completion rates.† Raising our
need-based aid to at least the national average would be a significant and
meaningful step to improving access to education.

2.Creating a learning environment that encourages
and takes advantage of our two- year and community colleges.† In Montana and across the United States, two-year and community colleges
are generally less expensive than 4-year schools.† Many of the students attending two-year schools do so because of
the proximity and social atmosphere of the school (located in the community,
not as intimidating, etc.).†
Additionally, most estimates indicate that the majority of jobs in
Montana require something less than a 4-year degree.† Is the message weíre sending to students creating an
unintentional barrier by steering the bulk of our students to a 4-year
school?† Finally, many states have a
process in place that encourages (both from a system and financial standpoint)
those students desiring to continue their education to transfer to a state
4-year school.† The partnership between
2 and 4-year schools allows for a better matching of career aspirations and a
degree of control over student indebtedness.†
Both of these factors play a huge role in student access to education.††††† ††

3.Implementing a seamless transfer of credit process
that encourages students to enroll and persist in college. †Montana faces a large access barrier (perhaps perceived) due to the
issues surrounding transfer of credit.†
High school students taking college-level courses, students attending a
technical or community college, and even students transferring between our
4-year university system schools have issues with the transfer of credit
process.† Too often, students believing
they have satisfied a particular requirement learn they must retake a class or
earn less credit than they had understood or desired.† A student should never walk away from a college education because
itís simply too difficult to transfer or itís going to cost too much money to
retake certain classes. Taking college-level classes in high school can both
prepare a student for the rigors of college and also minimize a studentís
dependence upon financial aid.† Just as
importantly, it can instill the confidence in a student that he or she can
succeed at the next level.†

4.Implementing new system and improving existing
systems that encourages and prepares our college-eligible for a post-secondary
education (academically, socially, and economically). The system should take
advantage of public, community, and private partnerships and should inform and
empower all Montanans to attend college.† †Montana has some excellent
programs and entities working to prepare our youth for college: GEAR UP, TRIO,
SAFís Outreach and MCIS programs are just a few examples.† At the high school level, counselors can
play a huge role in preparing and supporting a studentís college decision.† The system breaks down because we simply
donít have the resources or partnerships in place to reach all of Montanaís
youth Ė and especially at an early age.†
Because of economic challenges, some Montanans simply donít believe
college is an option.† Others arenít
supported by their families or communities.†
In these situations, the lack of early awareness programs, mentors,
community partnerships, or even a high school counselor is often the reason a
student doesnít progress to post-secondary education.† Too often, students donít know about financial aid or the
process.† Even when they do, students
frequently miss out on aid because they miss deadlines or donít apply early enough.† The lack of a system that informs,
encourages, and prepares our youth for college is a huge access barrier in
Montana.†††

5.Implementing or improving systems that reduces the
debt load of Montanans, taking greater advantage of career planning, public/private
partnerships, and private scholarships.† †Relative to per capita income,
the cost to attend a Montana public university is significant.† The state is well below the average of
comparable states with respect to the amount of state appropriations provided
to our public universities (33.1% verses 42.9% at 4-year schools, 18.9% verses
36.6% at 2-year schools).† This high
tuition, low aid model results in Montana students leaving school with
burdensome debt loads.† Of those who
borrow, the average debt load of a baccalaureate student is just over
$20,000.† Many individuals are simply
unwilling to take on this type of debt.†
As an aside, if Montana could take full advantage of our 2- year and
community colleges, the issue of debt load might be significantly reduced.††††††††† ††††

Thank you for the opportunity to serve and report on the Access to
Education Committee.† It is my pleasure
to serve toward the worthwhile effort.†
I appreciate the opportunity and value your leadership.